ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/26 Nov.) — The conduct of the special barangay election in Zamboanga City yesterday was “generally peaceful,” the Crisis Management Committee said in a statement released through the City Information Office.
Like in Bohol which was ravaged by a 7.2-magnitude quake last month, barangay election in Zamboanga was postponed after the three-week standoff between government forces and the Moro National Liberation Front-Misuari faction in September.
Presidential Proclamation No. 684, which provides for the conduct of the special elections in the city’s 98 villages declared Monday a non-working holiday in Zamboanga.
Barangay elections in other parts of the country were held on Oct. 28.
The city Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said a total of 2,930 candidates vied for 784 posts across the 98 barangays.
COMELEC Chair Sixto Brillantes along with Commissioners Al Parreño and Grace Padaca were in the city to supervise the polls.
Polling for Barangays Arena Blanco, Rio Hondo, Mariki and Sta. Barbara was held at the Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology in Rio Hondo.
The four barangays were the sites of hostilities during the standoff which displaced tens of thousands of residents and burned several houses.
The city government deployed government trucks to the evacuation centers to ferry the voters to and from the school which served as polling center.
Public and private school teachers manned the poll precincts, but security was on full alert in the city, where a 12:00 midnight-4:00 a.m. has remained in place
The liquor ban ended at 12:00 Monday.
City Information Officer Sheila Covarrubias meanwhile told MindaNews that about 2,000 packs of rice were handed to internally displaced persons in Talon-Talon this morning, under the Food for Work Program. (Frencie Carreon/MindaNews)
